Eight Tips to build trust and keep your website visitors happy
On Tuesday I was invited to lunch with some folks at the Oregon Culinary Institute (OCI). What an amazing culinary school it is! If I didn’t know the restaurant was a training ground for future members of the culinary arts, I would have never known. This program is run very professionally and the food is amazing!
I had the Roasted Halibut with Artichoke, Bacon, Leek and Mushroom with Heirloom Tomato Vinaigrette and it was perfectly cooked with some sort of flowers on top that looked like fuchsias. These flowers came from the head chef’s personal garden where he only grows edible plants. How cool is that?
To back up, I had met Woody Bailey of Zen Blades at the Macforce Summerblast that was held in mid August. I was offering free website audits to visitors of the Summerblast. Woody invited me to OCI to have lunch and share some of my Internet Marketing expertise with some of the faculty.
That very first bite of your website should make the visitor feel like this is something special.
Fast forward again and I am taking the first bite of the most amazing OCI Chocolate Dream Torte. Now this is where the title of the blog comes from. That very first bite is always the most amazing when it comes to something special. That very first bite of halibut, that very first bite of the torte. That very first bite of your website should make the visitor feel like this is something special. This is the place I need to buy my next pair of shoes, consultation and so on.
This is how you want people to feel when they come to your website. You want that first bite to be something very special and here are a few tips to get you started:
- Make sure you have a well designed, well laid out website. Pick a color palette that uses a main color and no more than two complementary or accent colors.
- Place your most important information (usually your logo) in the upper right hand corner.
- Tell visitors immediately who you are, what you do and why they should do business with you. (This is especially important for companies with lesser known brands.)
- Make sure you satisfy your visitor’s needs. Figure out why they are visiting and make sure to offer them the solutions quickly.
- Ask them to connect with you by offering them something of value, such as an e-book or a free consultation in exchange for their contact information, but make sure to let them know that they can opt-out at anytime.
- Talk about how your company can help the visitor. Tell the visitor what’s in it for them and use “you” and “your” words instead of “me” and “mine” words.
- Build trust by displaying the logos of associations you belong to and if you take credit cards, display those logos as well.
- Give visitors the opportunity to share your website with their friends through social media
These are a few items I know will help your visitors savor the first bite of your website. Do you have suggestions? Please feel free to share your tips on creating that excellent first bite! I look forward to savoring every last tip!
